


Missives

by Caraidean



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken | Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Genre: F/M, one-sided Marth/Catria, short af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 18:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16164134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caraidean/pseuds/Caraidean
Summary: Catria brings a message from Minerva pleading for Marth’s help to rescue Maria. While delivering it, she draws some conclusions about him that leads her to an inevitably doomed affection for the man.





	Missives

**Author's Note:**

> The last two or three paragraphs of this were written months before the rest of the fic, hence the potential change in quality and tone.

“Prince Marth.”

Catria’s mouth was dry when she met him for the first time, the woman well aware of the peril of her situation. She was alone, deep within an army that by all rights was her enemy, unarmed save for her lance - a lance she could hardly use, with a white flag tied around the shaft just below the tip.

They had made her wait to meet the prince, standing in the middle of the camp with the lance resting against her shoulder. She hadn’t known what to expect, believing some of the propaganda that had been spread about him must have been true to an extent. That he’d been a coward to flee to Talys, that he hid behind mercenaries like Ogma to do his fighting for him, not that he was…was…

She’d heard the chatter of his troops since she landed, seen him fighting from a distance in the battle before she arrived. None of that added up. He was a damned enigma to her now, some mysterious figure that she had dismissed ever getting a chance to figure out. Yet here she was on a mission from her princess, about to meet the commander that had been plaguing her mind with doubts since his army first clashed with Macedon’s a few months prior.

“I am.” Marth finally broke the silence a few short moments after Catria’s greeting, and of all the things to do - he smiled at her. Catria blinked at that, taken aback at the friendly display and even more when he held up a hand, making his soldiers stand down for the first time since she had landed here. “Who are you? Why are you here?”“

"I am Catria, of the Whitewinged Order of Macedon. I have come with a request from our mistress, the Princess Minerva.” Catria noted the lack of surprise that seemed to cross Marth’s face, the woman’s brow furrowing for a brief moment. He must have known that she was here for this, surely, why make her repeat it “She is planning to lead us against Doluna in rebellion; however, hero hands are tied so long as the enemy holds her younger sister, the princess Maria, captive.”

That got a reaction. Mutters of disbelief from the surrounding men, but from him - nothing but sympathy and perhaps a small amount of initial shock in his eyes, the face of the man she’d been told was her enemy all too compassionate. Catria got down on one knee, lowering her head and resting her lance against the floor in front of him as she beat down her pride and professionalism and  _begged_ , like she believed she would have to.

“Please, my lord. Will you rescue Princess Maria from their clutches, that my Whitewing sisters and I might join in your fight?”

“Please stand up.” Marth said quietly, and Catria looked up in surprise. She found herself staring into his eyes, the man’s hand outstretched to help her back to her feet - and she reluctantly took it, still taken aback by his actions. What kind of man- “Of course we will. Where is she being held?”

Catria blinked in shock. Was that truly all it took? She couldn’t help herself - a simple, dumbfounded ‘Why?’ escaping her lips, making it clear that she had expected something more in his demands. Marth paused once she was standing, retracting his hand and giving her a simple shrug that seemed to convey more honesty than she could have heard in a hundred words or more. 

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” He said eventually, glancing at Catria’s headband for the briefest of moment. “And because…I know what it can be like to lose a sister. I would rather nobody ever feel that pain again.”

“I’m sorry.” Catria said automatically, but the rote response seemed to have some true heart behind them. She could barely imagine life without Palla or Est, and Prince Marth’s sister was…? If not dead, certainly missing. Marth just nodded slightly, before ordering his men to leave her be with a few sharp gestures and firm words, looking at her for another moment.

“Where is she being held?” He repeated, making Catria blush for a brief moment when she realized she hadn’t answered. 

“Castle Deil. Here.” Catria dug into her saddlebags for a moment, producing the maps she’d been given and passing them to him, her own fingers brushing against his for the briefest of moments. “Prince Marth…thank you. Sincerely. Maria means the world to my Princess.”

“Would you like to know something?” Marth said quietly to her, and after a moment of hesitation Catria nodded. “Even if Minerva had not offered to join us…I would have saved her anyway, had she asked. Because-”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” Catria finished, understanding starting to dawn in her mind as she realized the kind of person Marth really was. Marth let out a sheepish laugh and rubbed the back of his head before nodding, a more serious look crossing his face.

“You should leave before someone suspects you of spying. From either side.” He said, true concern in his voice, and in a fashion so unlike herself…Catria didn’t question it. Instead she nodded again, letting out a slight affirmative noise before clambering back on her pegasus and digging in her heels. She spared one last look back at him as she rose, her parting nod returned with more energy by the 'enemy’ commander.

* * *

“…he was kind, wasn’t he?” Catria asked her pegasus quietly once they were in the air. Therin’s ears flickered slightly in agreement, and the woman pursed her lips for a moment. Her pegasus agreed with her on this? How peculiar…he never really took to people kindly.

It was what she’d do in his situation, if - Gods forbid - she ever ended up in command. That was the other thing she’d noticed, too - he didn’t seem to want to be in command. He just wanted his country back and his people safe. He  _genuinely_  meant that after all, it wasn’t propaganda like she had believed at first. He was just so…so…

She let out a slight, long sigh of longing - and then the blood drained from her face when she realized what conclusion she had just come to, eyes wide as an  **incredibly**  unprofessional display of emotion came from her lips. 

“Oh, **_damn_**. This is not happening to me right now.”


End file.
